Some recent multifunctional peripherals have a file service function of not only simply printing image data and transmitting image data via a network but also providing image data to a personal computer (PC).
On the other hand, PCs and server devices (such as file servers and authentication servers) connected to a network in an office and so on are required to operate in accordance with security policies determined with respect to each office. As with PCs, server devices, and so on, multifunctional peripherals are required to comply with security policies. Here, security policies mean constraints imposed in terms of security so as to prevent unauthorized use of devices at offices and information leakage, such as requiring user authentication in operating devices and requiring encryption of communication paths.
In conventional multifunctional peripherals, an administrator can configure some operation settings (hereafter referred to as user modes) of the device so that the device can be operated in accordance with the above-mentioned security policies.
However, conventional setting using user modes requires a plurality of setting items to be correctly set, and when they are not correctly set, operation that does not comply with security policies is virtually permitted, and this may compromise office security.
Accordingly, there has been proposed a system in which not only user modes but also security policies are externally set, and at startup, the security polices and the user modes (security setting unit) are compared with each other, and as a result, only when it is determined that the settings comply with the security policies, startup is permitted (see, for example, PTL (Patent Literature) 1).